From the Hundred Days' Reform (1898) to the New Policies at the End of the Qing Dynasty ----The Imperial University of Peking in a Time of Drastic Change

Abstract

The establishment of the Imperial University of Peking was a major event in the Hundred Days' Reformation and was preserved in the conflict between reformers and conservatives. Before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the University witnessed the ancient empire's attempts to improve its backwardness. Against the backdrop of imperial reform, the newly established university also experienced the impact of old and new forces from the court itself. The country's new talent training system was modernized by constructing schools at all levels. Changes to the imperial examination system led to a change in the traditional path of upward mobility for students who had previously studied to become officials in the study of science and culture. Meanwhile, the University was faced with a composition of students from different educational backgrounds, from those who received a traditional Chinese education to Chinese students who received westernized knowledge, who together experienced the transformation of the education system and the talent system in modern China and had a significant impact on the modernization process in China. The article also discusses the life experiences of some formerly Jinshi titled intellectuals after the Qing government ceased to exist, mainly in the subsequent Republic of China era.